The Future of Privacy

The Future of Privacy:
Will Cryptography and Secure Computation Protect Us?

It is hard to argue with the statement that “data is the new oil.” Unfortunately, the ever-expanding collection of data from social networks, smartphones, and IoT devices has created an alarming trend. Every month, it seems, there is another huge data breach somewhere in the cyberworld, and people are understandably concerned about how well — or even if — their online privacy is being protected. The current pandemic has accelerated the growing demand for sharing health-care data and highlighted the need for digital contact tracing. When exacerbated by the questionable behavior of some online services, this has all simply added fuel to the fire.

Both governments and private companies have been trying to assuage these fears. Governments have passed new laws and regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). And emerging technologies, including secure multiparty computation (MPC), Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE), and zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP) are attempting to put stronger protection in place. But is this enough?

In this VLAB event, a panel of experts in cryptography, privacy, and security — including trailblazing startups, Internet giants like Google, and VCs focused on this field — will discuss the role of cryptography and secure computation and examine the impact that these technologies could have on protecting privacy.

• Can companies effectively balance the desire for data and the needs of consumers?
• Will new technologies be strong enough to provide proper protection?
• How can entrepreneurs leverage this opportunity?

Join us on August 27 to find out.

Moderator

Panelists